This article is cited in 16 papers

CONDENSED MATTER

Polarized neutron channeling as a tool for the investigations of weakly magnetic thin films

S. V. Kozhevnikov^ab, Yu. N. Khaydukov^cd, T. Keller^cd, F. Ott^b, F. Radu<sup>e

a</sup> Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980 Dubna, Russia
^b Laboratoire Léon Brillouin UMR12 CEA/CNRS, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette, France
^c Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany
^d Max Planck Society Outstation at FRM-II, D-85747 Garching, Germany
^e Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, D-12489 Berlin, Germany

Abstract: We present and apply a new method to measure directly weak magnetization in thin films. The polarization of a neutron beam channeling through a thin film structure is measured after exiting the structure edge as a microbeam. We have applied the method to a tri-layer thin film structure acting as a planar waveguide for polarized neutrons. The middle guiding layer is a rare earth based ferrimagnetic material TbCo$_5$ with a low magnetization of about 20 mT. We demonstrate that the channeling method is more sensitive than the specular neutron reflection method.

Received: 24.11.2015

Language: English

DOI: 10.7868/S0370274X16010070

 English version: Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters, 2016, 103:1, 36–40

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